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Mourners pay their respects for Christina Green

Mourners pay their respects for Christina Green

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Firefighters raise a large American flag recovered after the 9/11 attacks outside the funeral of Christina Taylor Green.

By Doug Miller
/
MLB.com |

Hundreds of mourners paid their respects on Thursday at the public memorial service for Christina Taylor Green, the 9-year-old girl who was killed last Saturday in the shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that also claimed the life of a federal judge and four others and critically injured U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Green, the daughter of Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green and granddaughter of former Major League manager Dallas Green, was the first and youngest of the victims to be buried, according to multiple published reports. Mourners lined the road leading to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in north Tucson, where Green's funeral was held in the early afternoon. The service was closed to the news media.

Green, who loved baseball in addition to dancing, gymnastics and swimming and was gaining an interest in politics, was remembered Thursday in the presence of an American flag that was salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center days after her birth, which occurred on Sept. 11, 2001 -- the same day as terrorist attacks on the United States.

"She showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age," President Obama said during his address Wednesday evening. "I want to live up to her expectations, I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it, I want America to be as good as Christina imagined it."

The shooting took place as Green, who was recently elected to her elementary school's student council, was attending a meet-and-greet with Giffords at a local supermarket. The funeral for federal judge John Roll, who also died in the shootings, is scheduled for Friday. A 22-year-old Tucson resident, Jared Lee Loughner, was charged in the shooting and denied bail in an initial court hearing on Monday.

In response to the outpouring offers of support for the Green family, the Dodgers have established an e-mail address (greenfamily@dodgers.com) through which family, friends and members of the community can share thoughts and feelings about the tragedy. Submissions will be compiled in a memorial book for the family.